THE LEADER of the Isle of Wight Council Dave Stewart says the local authority is looking at the Island's statues and monuments, after a number across the country were boarded up, or brought down altogether, as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

Cllr Stewart said: “We are looking at the list of those statues and monuments at locations for which the council is responsible, of which there are very few.

"We are not aware at this point of any which may be deemed of a controversial nature, but this will be subject to ongoing review as appropriate.”

In Poole, a statue of scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell faces an uncertain future and has been boarded-up.

Campaigners said there could be "no excuse for [Baden-Powell's] documented homophobia, racism and enthusiastic support of Hitler".

The Isle of Wight's Bear Grylls - Chief Scout - said scouting must learn from the "failings" of its founder.

In a statement on UK Scouting's website, he said: "As Scouts, we most certainly do not celebrate Baden-Powell for his failings. We see them and we acknowledge them.

"And if he were here today, we would disagree with him on many things, of that there is no doubt."

Isle of Wight County Press:

You can read Bear Grylls' full statement by going to www.scouts.org.uk

South coast cities, including Bournemouth and Brighton, have a number of statues earmarked for removal.

The Isle of Wight does not feature on crowd-sourced campaign map, Topple the Racists (www.toppletheracists.org).

The site has identified dozens of statues and monuments across the UK which it says commemorate people with a “responsibility for colonial violence”, but it says it is not calling for statues to be torn down, saying decisions should be made locally.

Earlier this month, Black Lives Matter demonstrators tore down the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol - a former slave trader.